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Vulcan’s Hill reinforces positive outlook for 2015
Tom Hill, president and CEO of Vulcan Materials Co., offered an updated outlook of 2015 for his company following the release of its latest quarterly report. According to Hill, demand for aggregates remains strong and Vulcan is experiencing accelerating momentum in volumes and pricing throughout its markets. "The growth rate in our trailing 12-month aggregates shipments has increased for seven consecutive quarters and, as expected, that momentum is beginning to benefit aggregates pricing," he says. "This momentum underscores our confidence in the full-year expectations we provided in early February of this year." In addition, Hill says lower first-quarter diesel costs led to cost savings. "Momentum remains strong in Vulcan-served markets," Hill says. "We are optimistic about the volume growth, pricing momentum and strong margin expansion we see across our markets." Keep Reading
MSHA publishes latest stats on fatal accidents
Ten mining deaths occurred during the first quarter of 2015, the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) reports. Six of fatal accidents occurred in metal and nonmetal mining, while the other four occurred in coal mining. According to MSHA, two metal/nonmetal miners died in machinery accidents; one in a falling material accident; one as a result of a powered-haulage accident; one in a hoisting accident; and another in a fall-of-roof accident. Twenty-four people died in metal and nonmetal mining accidents during 2014, MSHA reports. Five of the 24 occurred in the fourth quarter. Keep Reading
Nye looks forward, back for Martin Marietta
Ward Nye, chairman, president and CEO of Martin Marietta Materials Inc., offered some perspective on the company's recent performance and an outlook for the remainder of 2015 upon the release of Martin Marietta's latest quarterly report. According to Nye, the state of Texas continues to provide a number of opportunities to his company. Nye says Texas ranks second in the United States in job growth, and increased construction activity and a diverse industrial base are supporting the state and providing Martin Marietta opportunities. "Our leading position in Texas’ major northern, central and southern markets will allow us to capitalize on this trend as our customers’ backlogs across the construction end-use spectrum continue to improve," he says. "Construction activity is led by the state Department of Transportation’s nearly $9 billion fiscal-year 2015 letting budget, which includes multi-year projects and adds to an existing infrastructure backlog." Texas also ranks first in nonresidential starts, Nye adds, with $39 billion in the last 12 months. It's second in housing starts, he says, representing more… Keep Reading
Aggregates volume, pricing growth drive Martin Marietta’s first quarter
Martin Marietta Materials Inc. experienced improved margins and increased profitability during the first quarter of 2015. In fact, Martin Marietta reports it achieved a first-quarter profit for the first time in seven years. Ward Nye, Martin Marietta's chairman, president and CEO, attributes the first-quarter profitability to volume growth and double-digit pricing increases in aggregates. "We view this volume and pricing momentum as an indication of a more construction-centric phase of economic recovery," Nye says. "Our first-quarter results and outlook for the full year have led us to increase our annual aggregates product line pricing guidance from an increase of 4 percent to 6 percent to an increase of 7 percent to 9 percent over 2014." According to Martin Marietta, its aggregates shipments reflect growth in all end-use markets. Shipments to the infrastructure market comprised 40 percent of quarterly volumes, the company says. Shipments increased 8 percent compared with the first quarter of 2014. The nonresidential market represented 34 percent of Martin Marietta's quarterly aggregates shipments, increasing slightly compared with the… Keep Reading
P&Q Hall of Fame Profile: Paul Detwiler III
Producer positioned family-owned company for tremendous growth A high-volume aggregate producer doesn’t become a top U.S. producer overnight. A series of growth-related moves are usually made, and those moves are typically made over a period of years, even decades. New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co. Inc., a Pennsylvania-based aggregate producer with more than 90 years of history, has followed that model of periodic growth. Several men orchestrated New Enterprise’s growth over the years, including Paul Detwiler III, the current president and CEO of the family-owned company. “The quarries have always been the backbone in how New Enterprise started,” says Jim Barley, New Enterprise’s vice president of sales who’s worked for Detwiler and his family for 41 years. “Over the years we grew into a large construction company, as well, not just doing blacktop paving but building bridges and new highway construction. We were and still are in the concrete paving business, as well as the blacktop paving business. These were a source of use for the materials we produce.” Acquisitions… Keep Reading
Former quarry provides thrill for car enthusiast
A car enthusiast stumbled onto a wealth of junked classic cars and hot rods – and in a quarry-turned-junkyard, no less. Ryan Brutt, who calls himself the Automotive Archaeologist and blogs about his finds, writes on MSN that he received an invitation from a Missouri man who offered to show him a few hidden car gems. Brutt accepted the invitation, and he wound up at a junkyard that served as an active quarry for a number of years. According to Brutt, the quarry owners used to store cars in mining caves. Now, a number of cars are scattered throughout the site, including 1930s and '40s Fords and classics from the '60s and '70s. Check out Brutt's full article here. He offers a fuller slideshow of his finds with his article, including a few photos of the mining caves. But he shared a few photos with Pit & Quarry that appear here, as well. Photos: Ryan Brutt Keep Reading
Trump chimes in on America’s ‘laughingstock’ infrastructure
Transportation infrastructure has been a hot-button topic lately, largely because of the looming May 31 expiration to extend federal highway programs. Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump recently offered his two cents on U.S. transportation infrastructure in a short YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKqCEuv5c6M "I don't like what I see happening to America," Trump says in the video. The infrastructure of our country is a laughingstock all around the world. Our airports, our bridges, our roadways – it's falling apart. It's a terrible thing to see." Trump has not publicly announced plans to make a bid for the presidency in 2016, but some political experts speculate that he will. If Trump does, the transportation industry and its stakeholders would surely be eager to hear his plans to improve it. Keep Reading
Listening tour to assess state’s transportation infrastructure funding needs
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) plans to kick off a series of listening sessions in the next month to discuss the state’s transportation infrastructure needs and the steps required to ensure the right investments are made. According to the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers (IAAP), IDOT plans to engage residents, businesses, local leaders and stakeholders to identify the infrastructure challenges the state of Illinois faces. IDOT and Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration (R-Ill.) are promoting the tour as a component to influence their plans for a long-term transportation infrastructure program, the association says. "We're strongly encouraging our members to get out and make sure our industry voice is heard on this issue," says Dan Eichholz, IAAP associate director. "Since Gov. Rauner was elected, he's indicated that funding transportation infrastructure is a priority of his. Part of the idea of this listening tour is to go out and hear not only the needs, but get ideas from local citizens on the best way to meet those needs." Eichholz expects the Rauner… Keep Reading
Excavators, dozers showcased at John Deere event
John Deere Construction & Forestry capped its dealer and customer training series with a trade press event at its facility in Sacaton, Ariz. The event offered an up-close look at some of John Deere's latest equipment, including excavators, crawler dozers, backhoe loaders, scrapers and tractors. John Deere's 300G LC excavator was among the machines John Deere showcased. Mark Wall, John Deere's product marketing manager for excavators, offered an overview of the 300G LC, pointing out that the construction-class machine is Tier 4 Final compliant and at a heavier operating weight than its predecessor, the 290G LC. According to John Deere, the 300G LC offers 19 percent more horsepower, 17 percent more swing torque and larger hydraulic pumps than the 290G LC. Operators do not have to worry about diesel particulate filter (DPF) cleaning, Wall adds, because it occurs automatically with no impact to machine operation. In addition, the company says the DPF can go up to 15,000 hours before ash removal is needed. The Hitachi Zaxis 300 LC excavator was… Keep Reading
